


Rise and Rise Again

by BestParsley



Category: Star Wars, Star Wars - All Media Types, Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Aftermath, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Post TROS, Reylo - Freeform, ben isn't dead, ben survives
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-29
Updated: 2020-08-29
Packaged: 2021-03-07 03:21:05
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26170096
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BestParsley/pseuds/BestParsley
Summary: Ben survives Exegol. (I might post a second chapter if people are interested.)
Relationships: Rey/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren
Comments: 14
Kudos: 53





	Rise and Rise Again

**Author's Note:**

> I listened to both "Ben and Rey Love Theme" and "Ben Solo Theme" by Samuel Kim while writing this, if you decide to listen along

There’s a persistent voice that keeps calling for him. Sometimes it comes to him like a nagging wail, and other times it beckons him so sweetly that he nearly follows. 

But he never does. He remains in his dormant state, and existence itself seems to fade away in his slumber. If he had the energy to think, he might ask himself if he has ever felt such slumber. Death, it seems, is quite an agreeable state of being. Weightless. Drifting. He’s not even sure how long it’s been. Moments? Hours? Years? Who cares. He can rest now. 

So he does. 

…

….

…..

But there is that incessant voice again, pulling at the last shred of consciousness in his soul. He’s not even holding onto it, but it refuses to float away from him, so he continues to wake and fitfully shoo the voice away.  _ Later, _ he thinks.  _ I’ll answer to you later. Let me rest now. I’m so tired.  _

The voice worms its way into his ears. “Listen to me” It says. “Come to me.” It begs. 

He is compelled to listen, but his body refuses. Impossible.  _ I can’t. _

“Come to me.”

_ I’ve already completed my journey. _ He stirs.  _ What more do you ask? _

“Listen.” 

_ Let me be…. _

For a brief moment, the voice disappears and he believes he has staved off whatever it is that the voice keeps pestering him for.

“Ben.” His name echoes like a drop in an ocean of still water. It breaks the surface and ripples through the void, rebounding off of nothing and continuing forever. “Ben, come here.”

He’s been laying down, on the ground somewhere cold and wet, and when he realizes that his eyes are open and that he is seeing what looks like an endless puddle surrounding him, he wants nothing more than to go back to sleep. He tries to curl over on his side, away from the sensations he is now suddenly aware that he feels. He’s cold. He had forgotten what that felt like, but he is sharply reminded of how unpleasant it is to be cold when a shiver rips through his aching limbs. 

He was cold when he was alive. He remembers that now too. And somewhere in the back of his mind he notes that something isn’t quite right inside his chest. There’s a cavity that he hadn’t really been aware of, but it had been there from the beginning. It pulses when the voice calls to him again. 

Ben moans and tries to hide back in his safe den of sleep. Consciousness is much more unpleasant than he recalls it ever being, but the voice continues even more. 

“What do you want?” He tries to summon a growl, but his voice comes out in a rasp. His lips are blue. His fingers feel like they must be turning purple, and he’s sure he can’t feel his toes. “Let me go back to sleep.” 

“Ben.” It calls again. “Ben. Ben! Come here! Come, Ben! To me!”

A small part of him truly does wish to follow, but he still feels exhaustion in his bones weighing him to the floor. “I can’t.” He grunts with effort. “I can’t….I can’t, Rey.”

“Come, Ben. Come to me.” 

A flicker of light flashes overhead, and he wonders if she left him on Exegol. He remembers feeling so terribly cold there, but he was sure he was sweating when Rey kissed him. Their hair was plastered over both of their faces, but it must have been freezing. He feels frigid. 

“Rey, I can’t.” 

“Yes, you can.” She says, beckoning him. “Come to me.” 

Despite the ache in his muscles that make his arms feel like dense rock, and despite the hollow in his chest, Ben tries to obey. The exertion of sitting up is enough to exhaust him, but he pushes himself to stand. He remembers staggering to Rey and falling a few feet before her lifeless body. He rises to his feet again for her like he did that day. He’d rise a thousand times over and then some if she asked him to. He’d crawl to whatever corner of the galaxy she was at on his hands and knees to reach her if she commanded. 

His muscles don’t work right as he limps along. The floor is miraculously dry, but Ben is drenched to the bone and shivering. “Rey…”

“I’m here. Come to me.” 

“Just wait for me,” He says, out of breath. “Just...wait for me…please. I’ll find you.” 

“I’m here. I will wait.” 

He hobbles blindly in the direction of her voice. The cavity in his chest pulls to Rey like a beacon. She is a star in a black, noiseless void. Lightening flickers behind him and Ben winces, nearly stumbling over his own feet, but he manages to steady himself.  _ One foot, now the other. Repeat. If you fall, catch yourself and stand back up.  _

It feels like an eternity. He walks for as long as his weakened body can manage, but he can feel his husk begin to falter. His knees give out, and he collapses onto the floor, still cold and shivering, and sorry that he can’t go any further--sorry that he can’t reach Rey. 

“I’m here, Ben.” Rey’s voice coos, and it’s the only comfort he feels as the heavy sleep he felt before starts to seep in. “I’m here. I’m right here.” 

“I’m sorry.” 

“It’s okay. I’m here.” He is swaddled in the warmth of her voice as his vision quickly fades out. “You did good. You did good.” 

…

….

…..

There is a loud humming noise, and the repetitive sound of beeping coming from somewhere nearby. Once again, Ben is cold, but he is dry. Unlike before, he is very aware of the feeling of numbed pain in his vessel. He makes a pathetic noise of discomfort and tries to shift away from the sensation, but he’s trapped. Something is holding him. It’s warm--hot, almost burning him up, and he tries to soak in as much of the heat as possible. He’s so cold. He’s been cold for so long, his body feels like it’s been deprived of all warmth.

“Hush,” A voice shushes him soothingly, and there is remarkably the unmistakable feeling of a hand rubbing circles in his back. Someone, not something, is holding him, practically cradling him. “It’s okay, Ben.”

“Rey,” He gasps, trying desperately to rouse himself. His eyelids are heavy and his body feels immovable, but he opens his eyes. It’s blindingly bright, and his body’s natural reaction is to reject it by screwing his eyes shut, but there are figures in the room which him, outlined by fuzzy and unclear silhouettes. Some are distant, but he can feel the lithe limbs wrapped around him and looks up. Through his dazed confusion he tries his best to focus his vision. “Rey-”

“I’m here, Ben.” She smoothes a hand over his hair. “I’m here.” 

The pointed features of her face are unmistakable, and the details of the rest of her come to fruition as he expels every ounce of energy into focusing his vision. There are dimples in her cheeks from the smile she is wearing. Her hair is in a loose braid, hanging over her shoulder. Her hair is longer than he had imagined, and it flows down past her breast like a river. Wisps of stray strands of hair frame her face gently, and she is looking at him so sweetly that it makes Ben cry. 

“Rey…”

He weeps in her arms, laying down, half turned on his side and burying his face in Rey’s stomach. She hushes him, smoothing his hair back out of his face and caressing his shoulder. Ben catches a glimpse of the other faces in the room, staring at him. He recognizes a small handful of them. One is a pilot, one is a traitor, and one is a mechanic that tried breaking into one of the First Order ships what feels like so long ago. All of them watch in silent reverie as Kylo Ren, the supreme leader of the first order, lay weeping and trembling in the arms of a desert scavenger. He curls himself further into Rey’s hold, a pitiful attempt to hide himself from the world. 

Ben is not used to being exposed and vulnerable, and he feels helpless--stuck out in the open with no shelter except for Rey. 

“Give them some space,” A voice, one he recognizes faintly, orders. Some of the crowd disperses. The faces that Ben recognizes remain, but Rey pays no attention to them. She hunches over the beaten and broken man in her lap and kisses his shoulder. 

“It’s okay, Ben. We’re safe. Get some more rest.” 

And at her command, Ben is compelled to do so. His head aches and his body feels heavy still, so he sleeps. 

….

…

….

**Author's Note:**

> please dear god, I need comments. I'm shamefully asking for comments. I need validation. I love hearing absolutely anything you guys have to say.


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